1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an image recording apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine, and more particularly to an image recording apparatus having a plurality of paper trays.
2. Related Art
Usually, in conventional image recording apparatuses such as printers or copying machines having a plurality of paper trays, sheets different in size or orientation by, for example, 90xc2x0 are stacked in the paper trays. A user, thus, needs to select desired one of paper trays through a control panel installed on a front surface of the apparatus prior to initiation of a printing operation. In order to minimize the user""s operation for selection of the paper trays, there has been proposed a system designed to determine particular one of the paper trays which would be employed frequently as a default tray and select it when a power supply is turned on.
In recent years, as one of measures for energy saving, an operator turns off a power supply of printers or copying machines when leaving his or her seat for a noon recess, for example, and turns on it when the operator uses the printers or the copying machines again. The power supply is, thus, turned on and off frequently. The conventional printers or copying machines are designed to select a default tray when the power supply is turned on, so that the information on the paper tray selected immediately before the power supply is turned off is reset to a default value. When the operator resumes work where he or she left off, the operator needs to select one of the paper trays again.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to avoid the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an image recording apparatus capable of resuming an operation effectively without need for selecting a desired paper tray from default values when a power supply is turned on.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an image recording apparatus capable of resuming an operation effectively without need for selecting a desired font from default values when a power supply is turned on.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an image recording apparatus which supplies to an image forming portion a recording medium in selected one of a plurality of recording medium storage portions in which recording mediums are stored and which is kept in a standby mode when a power supply is turned on, comprising: (a) a specifying mechanism specifying one of the recording medium storage portions for selecting the recording medium to be supplied from the recording medium storage portions to the image forming portion; (b) a memory holding information on the one of the recording medium storage portions specified by the specifying mechanism even when the power supply is turned off; and (c) a selection mechanism selecting the one of the recording medium storage portions specified by the specifying mechanism based on the information held in the memory when the power supply is turned on and the standby mode is entered.
In the preferred mode of the invention, the information on the one of the recording medium storage portions is held in the memory until the specifying mechanism specifies another recording medium storage portion.
The storage of the information in the memory is accomplished in a power off process executed after a power supply switch is turned off.
The specifying mechanism includes a control panel having a selection key and a recognition circuit which, when the selection key is pressed, recognizes one of the recording medium storage portions specified by the pressed the selection key.
The recording apparatus is connected to a host device. The specifying mechanism includes a receiver circuit for receiving a command signal outputted from the host device and an analyzing circuit for analyzing the command signal received by the receiver circuit.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an image recording apparatus which has a plurality of fonts and performs image processing by selecting one of the fonts and unwinding received data to provide bit-mapped data and which is kept in a standby mode when a power supply is turned on, comprising: (a) a specifying mechanism specifying one of the fonts; (b) a memory holding information on the one of the fonts specified by the specifying mechanism even when the power supply is turned off; and (c) a selection mechanism selecting the one of the fonts specified by the specifying mechanism based on the information held in the memory when the power supply is turned on and the standby mode is entered.
In the preferred mode of the invention, the information on the one of the fonts is held in the memory until the specifying mechanism specifies another font.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided an image recording apparatus which supplies to an image forming portion a recording medium in selected one of a plurality of recording medium storage portions in which recording mediums different in standard or in orientation are stored and which is kept in a standby mode when a power supply is turned on, comprising: (a) a specifying mechanism specifying one of the recording medium storage portions for selecting the recording medium to be supplied from the recording medium storage portions to the image forming portion; (b) a memory holding therein information on the one of the recording medium storage portions specified by the specifying mechanism and control information corresponding to the information even when the power supply is turned off; and (c) a control circuit selecting the one of the recording medium storage portions specified by the specifying mechanism and controlling an operation of the image forming portion based on the information containing the control information held in the memory when the power supply is turned on and the standby mode is entered.
In the preferred mode of the invention, the information in the memory is held until the specifying mechanism specifies another recording medium storage portion.